Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership


The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme finished in early 2024 with projects successfully delivered by a wide range of project partners, community groups and individuals. Over the coming months, we’ll be updating this site to highlight what’s been achieved, so please keep checking back.

Welcome …

… to the Westmorland Dales website.

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme aimed to unlock and reveal the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales, enabling more people to connect with, enjoy and benefit from this inspirational landscape. Specifically, its objectives were to:

  • Reveal the area’s hidden heritage.
  • Conserve what makes the area special.
  • Engage people in enjoying and benefitting from their heritage.
  • Sustain the benefits of the scheme in the long-term.

This was achieved through a programme of projects developed and delivered through the Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership, led by Friends of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, and mainly funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It ran over a five-year period from March 2019 to February 2024.

Here you can discover what makes the area so special, find out about the scheme’s projects, and view and download resources produced.

The Westmorland Dales

The Westmorland Dales is a beautiful area of Cumbria lying  north of the Howgill Fells and within the north-west corner of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It stretches from Tebay in the south-west to Kirkby Stephen in the east and to Maulds Meaburn in the north-west. At its heart are the limestone fells above Orton and Asby, rich in natural and cultural heritage, and with magnificent views to the Pennines, the Howgills and the Lakeland fells. It drains into the Lune river catchment to the south and the Eden river catchment to the north. Relatively overlooked compared with its better-known neighbours, our projects have aimed to reveal its heritage for more to enjoy without detracting from its unique qualities. (Click on map for larger image)

Contact information

Friends of the Lake District
Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7SS
Main Telephone:  01539 720788
 Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
Yoredale, Bainbridge, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL
Main Telephone:  01969 652300

'Love Your Landscape' Grants

The Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership Scheme, which has been funded by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, aims to engage people in revealing, conserving, enjoying and sustaining the hidden heritage of the Westmorland Dales.

One of the ways we achieved this was by running a small grants scheme from 2020 - 2023 called 'Love Your Landscape'. It has enabled local communities and organisations to deliver their own projects to help us meet these aims. You can see some examples below of the activities that it has helped to fund. 

Grant Awarded

  • Wildlife, Trees, Hedges, Meadows, etc. – surveys, restoration, enhancement, tree and hedgerow planting
  • Town and Village Greens, Parks and Open Spaces – management plans, enhancements, new features
  • Archaeology and Built Heritage Features – surveys, excavations, restoration e.g. milestones, signposts, other heritage features
  • Cultural History – local and oral history projects, place and field names, folklore
  • Access – enhancement, new links, promotion e.g. paths, bridleways, access gates
  • Engagement – interpretation, art, events, education, food, school grounds improvements, allotments, other activities 

Examples of projects supported by 'Love Your Landscape' grant funding: 

  • Northern Viaduct Trust – new safety panels on historic Smardalegill Viaduct
  • Stainmore Railway – restoration of a listed footbridge close to Kirkby Stephen East station
  • Crosby Ravensworth Parish Tree Group – winter tree and hedge planting programme
  • Asby Tree Group – winter tree and hedge planting programme, inspired by the Crosby Ravensworth Group
  • Kirkby Stephen Town Council – management plan for Jubilee Park
  • Crosby Ravensworth Parish Council – new leaflets and displays promoting church as visitor hub.
  • Upper Eden CIC – new file encouraging people of all abilities to “Get outside and enjoy the Westmorland Dales”
  • Crosby Ravensworth Primary School – new school environmental area with planting and fencing
  • Shap Primary School – potting shed project as part of a school grounds improvements 
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